allybubba archives

enough with the lycra already! maternity wear woes

I think I might be alone here, but is there anyone else out there who wants to avoid lycra during pregnancy?

I didn’t wear it before, and I’m not about to start now.

Checking out what’s available online, and in my current fash-bible Cosmo Pregnancy (who would’ve thought I’d fall in love with Cosmo again after our affair ended all those years ago?) most maternity designers fall into two camps.

The lovely lycra brigade – lovely, if you’re 21 and/or don’t have any lumps, bumps or bulges. Or the cutesy pie team for women who want to look pregnant circa 1982. Oh, I forgot a third player – the maxi dress brigade. Nice for a BBQ, but hardly the thing for work.

It’s only been recently that I’ve begun to look into maternity gear – the sack-like fashions of the past few years have meant I’ve been able to wear my usual clothes, up until now.

Well, some of my usual clothes anyway. I realised how limited my wardrobe was when I had dinner with a friend the other night and she said “gee, youre really getting some mileage out of that dress”! So I knew it was time to hit the shops.

But while I was excited by the excuse to buy a new wardrobe, the buzz was short lived (a disappointment in itself, buzzes being hard to come by these days).

While I wouldn’t say I’m fat (depending on which day you ask me), skin tight clingy numbers have never really done wonders for my pear-esque frame, and it’s not just me that doesn’t suit VPLs, let alone VBLs (that’s visible bra lines to you).

I did manage to find a few cute dresses that weren’t so body-con (glad that’s dying down, btw) on Queen Bee, but I also don’t fancy shelling out $250+ on what would be described as a nice sack by most of the men in my life.

Am sure I’ll return to the ‘Bee if I need a pretty little something NOT made out of jersey but for now I’ve made some purchases from Angel Maternity which I’m eagerly awaiting – nothing too exciting in the fashion stakes but they look like good basics.

What are other girls doing out there?

After a quick search of a few blogs like from dates to diapers and the simple things, at least a few people agree that finding comfortable, affordable, flattering AND fashionable maternity challege can be a challenge (come to think about it – finding comfortable, affordable, flattering and fashionable fashion at any stage in life is difficult at best!).

Any tips for me on great maternity wear? Or maybe everyone else is fine with maternity bandage dresses and/or floral muu muus?

UPDATE: my gorgeous dresses arrived from Angel Maternity - one in particular I dont want to take off – ever.

my deliciously comfortable new angel maternity dress

Liz Lidecker has some great ideas on how to look fashionable while not spending the earth on maternity gear – excellent inspiration!